


For the Dogs

by exilefromlife



Category: Captain America (Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, CIA Bucky, Dogs, Dorks, Fluff, M/M, Pining, Texting, awkward dating, hinted future!Stucky, vet clinic, veterinarian, veterinarian steve
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-03-30
Updated: 2015-07-16
Packaged: 2018-03-20 08:56:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 5,183
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3644322
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/exilefromlife/pseuds/exilefromlife
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Steve goes for a run with his dog and meets someone when the guy's dog barrels into him.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Find me on [Tumblr!](http://findyouranchorpoint.tumblr.com/)

It was a nice day in Manhattan, so Steve figured it would be a great day to take his dog for a walk. Pongo had been a gift from Sam after a meltdown a few years back. They’d been stars on the track team together back in high school, and had survived the college ROTC programs before being commissioned. Three tours each had been more than enough, and they both had enough PTSD to understand each other’s quirks. It had only taken a backfiring car to break Steve during one of their morning runs, and Sam stopped by with the smallest puppy he could find only a few hours later.

Steve would have been angry if he hadn’t been looking to get a dog for months. He wasn’t prepared for the puppy to be a _dalmatian_ , though. It had worked out for the best though, as Pongo was a great running partner in both the early morning and late evening hours. Sam had been so impressed that he’d gotten one for himself from the same breeder later that year.

Steve looked down at his best friend and grinned. Pongo was holding his bright red harness in his mouth and whining a little. It was later than usual for their run, so the poor guy had had to wait for his exercise. The blond shook his head and knelt down.

“Okay, buddy, c’mere.” Pongo dropped the harness into Steve’s hand and tried to stand still for his owner. “Good boy, Pongo, good boy!” He made quick work of the harness and turned to grab the running pack his pal always wore. He’d refilled it with plastic bags and a water pack last night, so it was good to go. Pongo didn’t put up a fuss with the pack or the leash that came after.

“Alright, bud, let’s get going!” Steve opened the door and let Pongo out first so he could lock the door. He grinned at the dog and began his run.

It was a beautiful day, it really was. The paths in Central Park were full of other dog owners, but Sam wasn’t at their normal meeting place, and Pongo slowed down before looking back at Steve and whining.

“Aw, bud, sorry. Sam’s gotta cover a shift today, so Falcon’s not here. Don’t worry, I’ll take you over later so you can play.” Steve gave the dalmatian a comforting pat before he heard the shouts coming from down the path.

“Hey, blondie, watch out!!” Steve barely had time to look up before he was run into by a mass of tan fur and rolled onto the sidewalk. Pongo yelped as he was dragged down when Steve pulled the leash with him.

“Oh, shit, shit, I’m so sorry! Bear, back off! You big moron.” A husky voice was just up and to Steve’s left. “You okay?”

“Depends on if you got the number of that truck.” Steve moaned, face down on the ground. He pushed himself up and unclipped Pongo’s leash from the fallen dog in order to get untangled. “Easy, it’s okay Pongo, it’s okay.”

“Pongo?” The tone was mocking. “You’re kidding, right?”

Steve sighed and looked up. The brunet man talking to him was holding onto his own dog’s leash while he slid back and forth on rollerblades. “The friend that got him for me watched 101 Dalmatians with me the first day I had him. Pongo wouldn’t stop barking at the screen, so…yeah.”

“Animated or live action movie?”

“Animated, duh.” Steve stood and held out the leash clip for his dog, who wuffed and turned so he could be clipped in. “Good boy, bud. You okay?” He looked his pal over and sighed when he realized the only one of them that would be bruised was Steve.

A deep sigh came from over towards Steve’s right, away from the stranger, and Steve yelped before falling back to the ground. “Holy shit, what is _that?!_ ”

The dog the stranger’s leash was attached to was _large_. It stood about three feet tall and was the fluffiest dog Steve had ever seen. It’s red fur was sticking out at all angles and made the big thing just look bigger. It barked at Steve’s reaction, and the blond’s eyes widened at the _teeth_ the thing had. The stranger laughed at him and extended a hand to pull him back up to his feet.

“ _That_ is Bear. He’s a mix of, like, ten different breeds, all of them big. Mostly he looks like a Tibetan mastiff, but we just don’t know. Don’t worry, he looks tougher than he really is. A butterfly came near him earlier, and he tried to hide behind a tree. Moron.” The last was directed to the dog lovingly. “He’s been my buddy since I got home from Iraq.”

Steve arched an eyebrow and crouched next to Bear, extending his hand for the dog to sniff. He got it back covered in slobber. “You a vet?”

“Yeah. Couple of tours, honorable discharge, enough issues to create a whole new soap opera.” The man shrugged. “Bear was actually my therapy puppy until his owner got sick and had to give him up. Stop tugging, Bear, or no peanut butter when we get home!”

The blond noticed the hand holding the leash appeared to be some sort of metal alloy, and nodded to it with his head. “That the new Stark tech?”

The brunet looked down his arm. “Yeah, wired straight into my nervous system. Can feel pressure and firm movement, but nothing more than that. I actually got selected to be the trial for this model, so I get free upgrades and shit when they make ‘em.”

“I’ve read about them…should get my friend Sam to put stuff up for them at the VA. A few of the people in my support group might be interested.” Steve watched Bear and Pongo sniff each other and both adopt the playing pose.

“You’re a vet, too?” The other man watched the dogs as well, surprise in his voice. “Sorry, you just don’t come off that way.”

“Probably because you met me sprawled out on the ground. I’m Steve, by the way.” He reached out to shake the man’s hand.

“James, but most people call me Bucky.” Bucky took Steve’s hand and gave it a firm shake before the leash pulled on him. “Ow, dammit, Bear, wait! You damn big ball of stupid….”

Steve chuckled and snapped his fingers down by his side, pointing the index finger down. Pongo immediately perked his ears up and trotted over, sitting by his side. Bear followed, which was what Steve was hoping for. “Go on and play, good boy.”

Pongo stayed by his owner’s side, but went back to play snarling at Bear. Bucky rubbed his shoulder. “That’s a well-trained dog! I can’t teach this big galoot anything except for sit and occasionally lie down.”

“One of my buddies helped me train him. Since the conditions for the training involved me taking Pongo to the children’s hospital every Saturday, Clint taught him non-verbals too. Some of the kids can’t speak, so…”

Bucky chuckled. “Okay, man, you’re a damn Boy Scout. So, uh…can you maybe help me train Bear?”

The blond watched Pongo pounce on Bear while the other dog pretended to be mortally wounded, and grinned. “Sure, but it’ll cost you.”

“No problem, how much?” Bucky was reaching into his wallet.

“How about a playdate for our guys every Thursday? I’ve got that day off for group sessions.”

The brunet’s grin widened. “No work on Thursdays, so that works for me. You’ve got yourself a deal, Steve.”

“Great! Well, I gotta head back home, but maybe we’ll bump into each other between today and Thursday?”

“Skate every morning from six to eight, if you wanna catch me here.” A twinkle entered the man’s eye before he winked. “Alright, Bear, c’mon! Eeeyuck! Dog drool! You furball.”

Steve waved as Bucky skated off, tugged along by Bear. Pongo whined and the blond scratched behind his ear. “We’ll be seeing more of him, don’t worry. C’mon, let’s go see what Falcon’s up to, bud!”


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeah, I expanded it. Wasn't going to, but here you go!
> 
> Find me on [Tumblr!](http://findyouranchorpoint.tumblr.com/)

James Buchanan Barnes was what his close friends could call a sensible man. Ever since being honorably discharged after the ambush near Kabul, he’d had his life together in a neat little package. He’d been diligent in his physical therapy courses, enough that he was able to compensate for the change in his center of gravity. He’d been back on his rollerblades in a matter of months.

Then his best friend had given him a dog. A ‘certified companion for veterans’, she’d said. Bucky had accepted without hesitation because Bear had been tiny back in the day. A teeny, tiny ball of fluff, trained to help him with his PTSD and night terrors, loving at all times of the day. What could go wrong? Then the little bastard had the audacity to become _huge_. Two years later, and he was 180 pounds of love who didn’t understand that Bucky’s lap wasn’t _that_ big. Especially when Bear tended to sit on the more delicate parts of his anatomy.

Still, Bucky considered himself rational even during stressful situations, so the call he’d made to the veterinary clinic a few blocks away was unusual.

“No, he’s _huffing_ and wheezing, and it sounds like he’s holding back coughs! Of course I didn’t feed him anything new! The newest thing he ever eats comes from his own ass!” He looked down at his dog—his best friend—and his panic ratcheted up to a new level. “Look, I didn’t do anything new with him, he didn’t eat anything unusual, he’s been my perfect pal since he was a puppy! Yes. Yeah, I’ll be there shortly. Thank you.”

Bear looked at him from where he was lying and making that _horrible_ sound as if nothing was wrong. Bucky crouched and pet his buddy, taking a couple of deep breaths. “Okay, bud, we got this. I gotta get you over to Westside, okay?” He stood to open the door of his nice brownstone, then crouched again, not liking what he was going to have to do. Thank God he could deadlift 400 pounds. The retired sergeant carefully gathered his dog into his arms and grunted as he lifted him up. He thanked his car dealer for recommending the vehicle that allowed him to open the tailgate with a foot, and gently set Bear down on his bed in the back of his SUV.

He’d never driven the five blocks between his house and the veterinary clinic faster, glad the lights were all green for once in his miserable life. When he pulled up to the emergency entrance, three people were waiting with a gurney for Bear. One of them he’d met before.

“Steve?!” The blond from the park was there, standing in his—were those _pink_?—scrubs.

“Oh, hey! What’s wrong with the big guy here?” Steve seemed to be happy to see him, but was focused on the massive dog in front of him.

“I don’t know, man, he just started making this weird noise, and it sounded like—“ Bear made the noise again, startling his owner. “—like that! Oh God, please tell me he’s not gonna die!”

Of all reactions, he expected laughter the least. The blond braced himself against the gurney and shooed his coworkers off as he got himself under control. “Oh jeez, I’m sorry, I shouldn’t laugh.” He pet Bear’s ruddy coat and turned his dazzling smile towards the other man. “He’s fine, I promise.”

Bucky was _furious_. “How could you laugh?! He could be dying and you just sit there laughing at his predicament! I swear to God, I’m gonna—“

“Whoa, Bucky, calm down! He’s fine!” Steve held both of his hands up.

“What do you mean he’s fine? He sounds like—“

“Like he’s reverse sneezing.” The smile came back to the blond’s lips.

The other man froze. “Like he’s _what?_ ”

“Reverse sneezing. See how he’s inhaling sharply, and it kinda looks like he’s trying to hack up a hairball, like a cat? Indicative of it. We’ll double check him for anything else while he’s here, but that’s my initial assessment.” He calmly picked up Bear from the back of the car and placed him on the gurney like he weighed nothing at all.

“So…he’s okay?”

“Like I said, we’ll check him out for everything while he’s here, but it definitely seems like he’s fine. Doesn’t seem to be particularly distressed.” He wheeled Bear into an exam room and began looking for anything other than the obvious. He even got a nurse to get an x-ray just in case.

When everything was said and done, Steve turned his smile towards Bucky. “Well, like I said, reverse sneezing. Is this the first time he’s done this?”

Bucky let out the breath he wasn’t aware he’d been holding. “Uh, yeah, that I’ve noticed. Why?”

“Hmm, usually it results from an irritation of the nasal canal or throat—like an allergy to something. Or he got too excited while playing, or even he just had an excess of mucus. You take him anywhere new?” The blond lifted Bear off the table and placed him on the floor, where he stood and begged for treats.

“Bear, stop.” The dog looked at him for a moment, then turned his focus back to the blond. “No, we just went along the usual route for exercise.”

Steve laughed at the dog pawing at his leg and reached into a drawer for a treat. Bucky recognized the brand and nodded when the blond raised the bag and an eyebrow. Bear was very pleased with the situation. “Anything unusual along your route?”

“No—oh! They were pruning some shrubs and Bear stopped to bug the workers.” Bucky got a lapful of begging dog a moment later, and pushed the mutt off him. “Bear, seriously, stop.”

The blond let out a short, shrill whistle and snapped his fingers to the ground. Bear immediately laid down. “Good boy. If the groundskeepers had pollen on their uniforms, that’s probably what triggered it. I’ll get you a sample of a nasal spray for him to reduce the irritation in his nose.”

Bucky felt ashamed of his earlier anger towards the man. “Look, Steve, I’m sorry for snapping at you earlier.”

“Don’t worry about it, I shouldn’t have laughed. I’ve just never had someone as frantic as that come in and it turn out to be something relatively harmless. Let me go grab that spray for him, and then I’ll be back, okay?”

“Sure, thanks.” The brunet watched Steve leave the room and glared at Bear. “You are such a drama queen, you rotten mutt! Had me worried sick about you, and it’s just from you sniffin’ something you shouldn’t’ve. You moron!” He hugged his closest friend and buried his face in the thick fur. “Don’t you ever do that to me, bud. Dunno what I’d do without you.”

A few minutes later, Steve came back into the room. “Alright, here you go. One spritz in each nostril once a day, okay? Oh, and here’s my card, in case you have questions. My cell is the second number, and if you have an emergency, I put my pager number on the back.”

“Thanks. How much do I owe you guys for today?” He pulled his wallet out.

Steve waved him off. “Nothing. One of the interns used the q-word and this helped teach her not to _ever_ say that when we don’t have patients. Puts a jinx on everything.”

“The q-word? And are you sure?”

“Q-U-I-E-T. Like I said, it puts a jinx on everything. Poor girl was freaking out when your call came in. Besides, the only thing we’d really charge you for here would be the x-ray, but we just switched to digital, so it doesn’t put us out any materials.” The blond grinned at him. “You good to put him back in your car, or do you need me to carry him out?”

Bucky shook his head. “Naw, I’ve got it. Thanks for everything.”

+

Steve got a text message a few minutes after they left, just as he sat down for coffee.

****  


Several minutes passed before he got a response. **  
**

Steve couldn’t help but laugh. _  
_

 


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Some texting exchanges.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **EDIT: OMFG, I'm so sorry for screwing up the photos when I forgot that everything was direct linked and moved the photos into a folder. Should be good to go now.**
> 
> Find me on [Tumblr!](http://findyouranchorpoint.tumblr.com/)

 


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [This](http://theleesshop.com/shop/step1_2015.php?number=30080) is the shirt Steve wears.
> 
> [This](http://theleesshop.com/shop/step1_2015.php?number=29241) is the shirt Bucky is wearing.
> 
> Find me on [Tumblr!](http://findyouranchorpoint.tumblr.com/)


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Find me on [Tumblr!](http://findyouranchorpoint.tumblr.com/)

_That outfit can’t be legal_. Bucky thought, trying to keep his jaw from dropping. Steve was wearing a _very_ tight sweater that left almost nothing to the imagination, and the darkest blue jeans he’d ever seen. He just thanked everything holy that they weren’t skinny jeans, because his body wouldn’t be able to handle that. He put his phone away and opened his passenger side door for his date. Or was it even a date? If Steve was dressed like _that_ , it was probably a date.

The brunet hopped into the car and turned to the blond. “You look good!”

The other man blushed perfectly, Bucky noted. Steve smiled over at him. “You do too. So, I looked up the restaurant, and I really…you don’t have to do this.”

“If it’s about the stupid three dollar sign thing on Yelp, don’t worry about it. I still work for the government and they pay me pretty well, especially with the stipend I’m getting from Stark for volunteering for the prototype. Something about wanting me to go to as many places as possible to give the product some publicity.” He waggled the metal fingers of his left hand.

“Sounds like they’re using you for their own purposes.”

Well, wasn’t that sweet? At least he rated better than an object in the blond’s eyes. Those gorgeous blue— _pull it together, Barnes!_ He put the keys in the ignition and neatly pulled out into the light traffic. “Kinda, but it’s not that bad. Ms. Potts makes sure I’m okay with everything.”

The blond looked at him with wide eyes. “You know Pepper Potts?!”

“’Course I do, I’m wearing a Stark product. I think there are four other soldiers with their products that also do publicity stints, but none of them are as publicly recognized as I am."

“You’re recognized? For what?”

It was Bucky’s turn to blush. If he hadn’t been driving, he would have ducked his head down and away. “Uh, yeah. Saved a bunch of guys in my unit from an ambush in Afghanistan. That’s how I lost the arm. Damn near lost everything attached to it, too. Entire damn convoy was about to be taken out and I spotted some tracks that looked suspicious. Got out and got too close to a bomb meant for the Humvee. Bye left arm, hello physical therapy.”

“Jesus…shouldn’t have brought it up.”

“It’s okay. Or, well, it’s getting there. Helps to talk about it.” He smiled. “But yeah, made it home and they gave me a medal right there in the hospital. I’m pretty sure my mom still has the newspaper clipping.”

Steve nodded. “I’m glad you made it out.”

“Me too, Steve.” He sighed, trying not to remember those that didn’t. “Me too.”

+

He had severely underestimated the quality of the restaurant. It wasn’t what someone would call ritzy, but it was _nice_. There were booths and bamboo curtains separating those booths from the rest of the restaurant, but Bucky had apparently reserved two seat at the bar for them. He could feel himself beaming at the brunet when they were seated.

“I love watching them make sushi, Bucky. Thank you.” He nodded to the chefs behind the cool glass.

Bucky just shrugged. “The booths here make me claustrophobic, even with them opened up. Oh, thank you, I’ll have hot tea, please.” He said when the waitress stopped by.

“Same, thank you."

They exchanged innate conversation until they ordered their sushi, then dove into the real topics.

“How come you chose to be a veterinarian? That seems like a bit of a jump from the Army.” It was another standard date question, but the way the brunet’s voice dropped made it sound more…intimate.

Steve grinned. “During high school, I worked as a receptionist at a clinic near my old home. Used the down time to draw the pets in the waiting room. I remember wanting to go to art school back then, but as a receptionist, you have to deal with people coming in to put their animals down. I realized that I could draw living things all I wanted, but it meant jack if I couldn’t do anything to save them.” He shook his head. “Veterinary school is expensive, though, and my ma was sick when I started the pre-vet program. There was a presentation one day during orientation about the benefits of military service. Took me all of three minutes to make up my mind.”

“So the Army was a jump from being a veterinarian. That make more sense than the other way around.” Bucky seemed fascinated. “So, what, you finish your stint in the Army and then you got the government to pay for not only the classes you already took, but the veterinary school as well? Smart.”

“Not exactly. Stayed in the Army. Got promoted a couple times, ran some missions that I can’t discuss other than my unit was captured. This CIA operative managed to take out our captors and get us out of there.” Steve shuddered. “Couldn’t go back in. My unit was all honorably discharged. Still friends with the operative that got us out though.”

His date flinched and ate some of the sushi that had just been delivered. “Sorry. I know what that’s like.” He sighed and shook his head. “Okay, let’s choose a better topic. You mentioned loving all kinds of animals. What’s your favorite?”

“I love dogs, but I think I’m biased. Pongo’s the best friend a guy could ever ask for, and I wouldn’t trade him for the world.” He let out a self-conscious laugh. “Rabbits and cats tie for second.”

“Rabbits are cute, and cats are cool. Probably will never own either one, because Bear would accidentally sit on one and bye bye cute and fluffy baby.” He laughed, and Steve realized that it was a laugh he could easily fall in love with. Bucky took a sip of tea. “I probably will get a cat sometime soon, honestly. Own my own house, so I don’t have to deal with a landlord’s rules.”

“Awesome! ‘Scuse me a sec.” Steve stood to use the bathroom—actually to have a moment to text Sam—but he turned back to his date. “Promise I’m not ditching you.”

Bucky nodded and waved him off. As soon as he got to the bathroom, he got out his phone and started texting Sam. He also Googled ‘James Barnes’ while waiting for Sam’s reply.

Steve chuckled and put away his phone. Figured that Sam would know another veteran, especially working at the VA.

+

Bucky was a little relieved that Steve had excused himself, since it meant he could text a few friends. Skye would be a good one to text, he figured. Thor was probably in the process of making a late dinner with Jane.

He looked at the screen in disbelief for a couple more seconds as Steve came back to his seat. Medal of Honor? That would explain…absolutely nothing. It created a whole slew of questions that he couldn’t ask without revealing that he not only worked for the CIA, but also that one of his coworkers looked him up using official channels. He did wonder why the news of him receiving the Medal of Honor wasn’t available publicly. It hadn’t come up when he ran the normal background check.

He was getting paranoid. Stupid brain. The paranoia made the conversation a little blander, but they were able to finish their meal without it getting awkward. He could feel the tension between them on the drive back to Steve’s apartment, though.

Bucky was able to shove his thoughts to the back of his mind and walk his date to his front door.

“I had a great time tonight, Bucky.” Steve said easily, and the brunet was surprised. Maybe he’d been the only one to feel the tension. When the blond leaned in to kiss him, Bucky revised that thought. It hadn’t been one-sided, then, but an entirely different type of tension.

Unfortunately for both of them, his brain decided to short out when the blond’s lips met his own. It was a good kiss by anyone’s standards, but Bucky couldn’t figure out what to do with himself. Return it? Shove the blond against the door and make this a night to remember? Break apart? By the time he settled on returning the kiss, it was over. Steve looked surprised, maybe a little hurt, and all Bucky could do was default to his normal social setting: polite.

“Thank you.” _Thank you? Thank you?! Are you kidding me?!_ His mind screamed, and Bucky panicked, backing away slightly and then taking off towards his car at a full run, leaving his date on the doorstep like an idiot.

When he realized exactly what he’d done, he wanted to die. So he did the obvious thing: he drove to Thor’s place to get completely and utterly _smashed_.


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Find me on [Tumblr!](http://findyouranchorpoint.tumblr.com/)

The headache Steve woke up to made him want to crawl under a rock and stay there forever. He heard the buzzing of his phone and whimpered loudly. His clock told him it was a little past eight in the morning, and he hadn’t gotten nearly enough sleep to be conscious yet. Steve sighed and reached for his phone, flinching when the bright screen lit up the otherwise dark room.

He knew it was hopeless to argue with Natasha and rubbed his face to try and wake up a little. Steve managed to get sweatpants on and the coffee maker made just before she let herself in with the spare key he’d given her.

“Alright, Captain, sit your ass down and talk. I brought doughnuts.” She looked at him. “Or Tylenol.”

“Tylenol first.” He gratefully accepted the medicine and swallowed it dry before sitting down and resting his head in his hands. Steve heard his friend puttering about in the kitchen before she pushed a mug of coffee in front of him. “Thank you.”

“Spill, Rogers.” Natasha slid into the chair on the other side of the table with her own cup of coffee. “Sam said you were pretty rough last night.”

“Just think, that was before I demolished a few beers and a bottle of Jameson.” The blond winced and took a sip of coffee. He was about to compliment her on making another perfect cup of coffee when he noticed that her eyebrow was raised. “The date was fine, a little awkward after I went to the bathroom to text Sam, but it seemed like first date jitters to me. Then, when he dropped me off at my place, I kissed him.”

The redhead looked abnormally pleased about that. “Well, well, Rogers, looks like your heart isn’t as frozen as we thought it was…guess we’ll have to retire the Capsicle nickname. So, what, is he a bad kisser?”

“No! Well, I don’t know. Bucky just stood there like a deer in headlights, then said thanks and ran off. And I do mean ‘ran’, by the way!” He looked down at the coffee and really wished he had kept some of his whiskey.

“’Bucky’? As in Barnes?”

“Yeah?”

“That son of a bitch. Look, I have to get to work. I’ll text you.” She leaned forward and kissed his cheek. “Keep the doughnuts. Make sure you eat one and then go back to bed.”

Steve watched his friend leave in a hurry and groaned, letting his head thump to the surface of the table. It was going to be a long day.

+

Bucky was on his seventh, no eighth, cup of coffee when he finished the assignment for his job. Coding wasn’t his specialty, but he turned out to be pretty good at it with enough schooling. He was better at being a soldier, or even an operative handler, but coding was good enough for his team. He held back a yawn as he sent the email through the encrypted channels to his fellow code monkey, Skye.

She’d been recruited from some pseudo-terrorist organization and was the best code writer since Tony Stark. ‘Hacker’, his ass. Brilliant and young. Perfect for their team. He almost managed a grin as he sent her a text, only to find that she’d sent him one already.

Not a minute later, his phone went nuts as his personal inbox was filled with kitten pictures, as promised, with a few puppies thrown in for good measure. Skye was more of a ‘no pets’ person, but Coulson made her pet milk snake the office mascot after her landlady had threatened to kick her out. His phone dinged again, and he groaned. The last thing he needed was his operative running into a problem with temporary civilian living.

Bucky had exactly ten seconds to look at that last message before a knock sounded on his door. He glared at it until Natalia walked in with a paper bag of food and a few cups of coffee.

“Ah-ah, the coffee’s for me, you have your own.” The woman sat down and pushed the paper bag towards him while she picked on of the paper cups of coffee. “So, you ran from a perfectly good man who showed a genuine interest in you, and now you’re beating yourself up over it. Why?”

“I’m beating myself up—“

“No, why did you run?” She had a very persuasive glare, Bucky noted. “Better yet, why did you run and not immediately apologize as soon as you got home?”

“You know why I fucked up. I got stuck in my head as usual, and I didn’t get home until 4, I was at Thor’s place getting as drunk as possible.” At least she brought him good food before an interrogation. He caught the change in the tone of her glare. “I took the subway home, Talia. Then I kept drinking. And coding.”

Natalia’s expression softened. “Coulson is going to be upset if you drunk coded again.”

“That’s what Skye said.”

“Mm. Are you still drunk?”

He thought about it and shrugged. “A little, I think.”

She sighed and shook her head. “You’re going to text the Captain back, ask him to lunch, and then explain everything to him. If anyone could understand getting caught in your own head, it would be him.” The redhead stood up and straightened her jacket. “I’m going to work, I’ll help Skye cover for your sorry ass.”

“Thanks.”

“You’re welcome, now get to texting.” She kissed his cheek and left with her coffee.

Bucky groaned and took out his phone.

He let loose the breath he didn’t realize he’d been holding. Steve was obviously pissed off, but at least he was being given a second chance. Now he just had to not screw that up too.


End file.
